As 2017 comes to a close, and gifting season is upon us, I thought it would be a fun idea to do an article about some of my favorite brands or items that I used this year and that I feel like everybody should know about. These are all things that I’ve tried, or lusted over and honestly none of them have paid me to write this article. I seriously chose them myself, and I stand by my choices.
So let’s get into it, these are my favorite things from 2017.
FestFashions' Favorite Things
First up is L'Oreal's Colorista Semi-Permanent Color: my favorite was #SoftPink300. I am obsessed with this stuff. I have spent years trying to find a pink hair color that I liked since I’m always trying for the bubblegum pink color, but that’s really hard to achieve. Luckily pastel tones became really popular this last year so it was a bit easier to find. When I first started dying my hair pink I would have to do a hot pink color and wait for it to fade to the color that I really wanted it to be. This stuff is already the color that I wanted to be when it goes on. It’s semi permanent too and lasts on my hair just about a few days, usually a festival weekend.
Now, my hair is pretty light to begin with so if you have darker hair this of course won’t work but they do have this new One-Day Spray I haven't tried yet. It is a spray on, one-day color that looks like it does a little bit of it tinge to darker hair I’m going to test it with one of my friends and I’ll report back.
For the record, I did also try some other brands, and the worst of them was Lime Crime's Unicorn Hair. Did absolutely nothing. What a waste. If I want the color to last a little longer than usual, than I use Ion Color Brilliance Brights for a darker, longer lasting pink.
A brand that I’ve lusted over for years is RebLKitty's sunglasses. It’s awesome because she became really popular this year and even has been selling her sunglasses on Free People's website! I even once took her photo at a festival without knowing because of her awesome style! I love people with small brands like this one though who are super passionate about their art, but also really nice people in general.
My favorite pair of sunglasses that she did this year were the Disco Doll Sunnies. They have an octagon frame, a colorful tinted glass and then tiny little stickers on the edges of the glasses. They were definitely a cute trend for the colorful vibes of this past year. I wasn’t able to nab them just yet, but maybe for Lightning in a Bottle next year! See all her sunnies here.
The LUMi Shop is a brand that I discovered because of one specific coat they have: the Sequin Reversible Mermaid Cropped Disco Jacket. I saw this on Instagram somehow. I don’t know how I end up finding new brands or items anymore, but this jacket stuck out as unique and super cute. It has a really cool eye on the back fully made of sequins. What I really liked about it was that it hung lower than the actual waistband of the jacket, more like an appliqué than just a print.
I was pleased to find this brand has lots of other really cool stuff that I like, including a ton of awesome sequin pieces. They also have these cool light up quartz tiaras that I feel like I'm gonna need for Lightning in a Bottle. It’s a reoccurring theme that I need things for Lightning in a Bottle, let’s just establish that now.
One brand that found me was Little Light Lab. The owner reached out to me earlier this year about her cute little creations and sent me two to try. I absolutely loved them and I have to say it’s become a statement piece for almost every event I've gone to since. I love LED pieces because they help your look translate to the night. They're also actual fashion accessories versus glow sticks that usually just make necklaces or bracelets. The Little Light Lab flowers though are great quality because they look awesome during the day and then light up at night and still show the shape of the flower in a really beautiful way. I wouldn’t be talking about it if I didn’t love them so much, seriously. Check out her whole shop here, there’s much more than just the flowers.
Another company that I discovered a while ago that I feel like really blew up this year is The Gypsy Shrine. I purchased some of their glitter during a sale on the Dolls Kill website, and I absolutely love it. The one I got was called Unicorn Dreams. The reason I like it and why I bought it in particular is because it has really big pieces of glitter. Like close to a whole centimeter big, in gorgeous iridescent colors. It’s more of styling glitter for me, and I use it now instead of rhinestones. Personally it wouldn't be the kind of glitter you want to do a lot of detail with because it is really chunky. The glitter is more like an accent detail. Because the glitter is also so big, I usually end up using eyelash glue to attach the pieces, which brings me to another one of my favorite things: Benefit's Eyelash Glue.
OK so let’s be honest, as a rave girl I’m gluing things to my body all the time: eyelashes, jewels, glitter, edges of pasties... basically there’s a lot of things that are getting glued to my body. And if I’m gluing them, it's because I want them to stay ALL. DAY. I get cheap fake eyelashes, ones from CVS when they’re on sale and I love them, they work great, but they don’t always come with the best glue. I'm sure if I spent money on nicer eyelashes they might stay on better with the glue they come with, but instead I prefer my cheap ones, and then spend money on a good glue. I love the Benefit Eyelash Glue best. My first bottle lasted me about three years, even with all my friends always using it too.
This glue is really great: it’s strong, it’s easy to use, and it’s not that expensive. I haven’t found an eyelash glue that I like better and this is my second time buying this one. So that says something because I’m usually not a return buyer on stuff like this (I'm more of a discount buyer), so that’s really saying something.
This year was the first year that I started using pasties with some of my outfits. It could be because of the trend of mesh pieces, but I think it’s also because my fashion sense has become a little bit more experimental at events. I tried a few brands because as I said I’m usually a bargain hunter and I found that some of them are really sucked. There was nothing worse to me than the day that I tried a pair of Wicked Hippie pasties at Lightning in a Bottle and they wouldn't even stick to me a little. I even tried using eyelash glue to get them to stick... That's how desperate I was to make my look work. (If this sounds crazy think about how much time you spend designing your outfits to find yourself camping at your favorite festival, and one outfit is falling apart.)
I did find that a brand, Pastease, that I had another pair of pasties in my box of stuff that worked amazingly. Since then, I've only used them for my pasties needs since I know they will stick perfectly and I don't want to risk having to re-think my entire look on the fly. Pastease is also awesome because it's another awesome small shop run by a woman. She has so many different designs and cute pieces; you'll always find exactly what you need.
Another brand that I've thirsted over for a few years, is Marina Fini. She makes these awesome plexiglass pieces that I seen celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Baddie Winkle rocking. They’re really cool and simple pieces in a sense because they are large and standout. They're the perfect statement piece for an event, or a way to create your unique style by wearing one of the pieces over and over.
I really like the earrings but I have a tear in one of my earring holes, so I’m nervous to wear anything too heavy. Instead, I’ve been drawn towards the rings. I love a lot of the Flower Power rings, and I really want to buy one to make it a staple piece for next year after I save up some money. Fingers crossed for that Christmas dough.
Something that I’ve used for years and I feel like I haven't talked enough about, is Hair Charmsies. They are these little iron on pieces that you put in your hair. They’re really cool and add sparkle to your hair. Basically how to use them is they come on a sheet, and you peel that like a temporary tattoo, then lay it on your hair. Then you use your flat iron on it for about 10 seconds for them to attach to your hair. I had a lot of fun with them and they last honestly for three days of camping. Which is really cool.
They come in all sorts of designs including stars, hearts and rhinestones, but personally my favorite has been the gold stars. I don’t even use a whole pack each time I use them, I think I’ve been using the same pack for like a year, so they’re not a huge splurge. I use them as accent pieces, and they'd be really fun to add to braids.
So there you have it! There's my favorite things of 2017! To be honest some of these things might stay in my list for next year, but you never know! There were some items I would have loved to include as well in this list, but some shops shut down over the course of the year. If you're looking for holiday gifts for a raver, I'd suggest any of these items. I'm sure they'd love them, just as I do!
Also, in honor of hitting 10K on my Instagram account, I've reached out to some of these brands to participate in a huge giveaway with me! Check out my Instagram for details on how to enter. I wanted to be like Oprah's Favorite Things and giveaway my favorite items too! It’s my small way of saying thank you to you guys for following, reading, and enjoying my content! Giveaway entry period 12/15/2017-12/18/2017.
